Identities
by brisingrrider
Summary: After a series of unfortunate events originally intended to give our favorite young demi-saiyan a bit of a hard time, the Son family along with a few friends have found themselves simply a piece in the chess game of the Ancients and their epic, never-ending struggle against the Twins.


_Welcome to the rewrite of my previous story- which can still be found under 'Piccolo Comes to OSH'. Please enjoy! I obviously do not own the things that you recognize._

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"And tomorrow, a real live Namekian is coming to talk to the school! Won't that be exciting? And don't worry, he has promised not to hurt anyone," the teacher giggled, blonde curls bouncing slightly.

Gohan, who had previously been sleeping with his head lying on his paper, jolted awake. Did the teacher just say Namekian? He leaned over in his seat next to Erasa, who was sitting next to him. "Uh… Erasa… What did the teacher just say?"

Sharpener giggled in a very girly like voice, "Haha! So Nerd Boy wasn't paying attention!" The teacher glanced over to their row, causing the jock to instantly shut up.

"Well," Erasa continued her conversation with Gohan, "Mrs. Jackson just said that a real-life alien from some weird planet that starts with an 'N' is coming to talk to the school tomorrow! She said that he wasn't going to hurt us, but if he does Videl can save us! After all, her dad is the savior of the world."

Videl blushed slightly then regained her composure and glared at the poor, poor Gohan. He's hiding something. He knows something about this… this… Namikan or whatever it is. Videl resolved that she had to find out what he was hiding. Her father's reputation depended on it, although she wasn't entirely sure how yet.

Gohan's eyes slowly narrowed, then brightened. "Piccolo!" he muttered excitedly, then solemnly, "But what is someone remembers the battle with Demon King Piccolo? They shouldn't, it has been a long time… Oh no, he's probably in the footage from the Cell Games! How is he going to explain that?"

Videl smirked, then leaned across Erasa and asked suspiciously, "Who's Piccolo?"

"Uh… well… Nobody! It's nobody!" The trapped half-saiyan raised his hands slightly in defense, a blush creeping across his petrified face.

"Right. I'm sure its nobody really important, especially considering he's coming to our school tomorrow." Videl had a peculiar look on her face, her nose slightly scrunched and eyes narrow. Gohan could tell that she was not happy with him.

That day at lunch, Gohan walked over to his table at which Videl, Erasa, and Sharpener were already present. Today, a girl he didn't know accompanied them. The mystery girl had light brown, medium length hair tucked into a ponytail and dull green eyes. She wore a plain t-shirt and tight grey jeans, along with a slightly battered pair of short brown boots. She was laughing at something a giggling Erasa had said, but to Gohan the laughter seemed a bit forced, almost resembling how someone would laugh when they were simply trying to appease someone.

When Gohan approached and took his customary seat slightly away from the rest, the strange girl's eyes seemed to follow him. Very inconspicuously, by his reckoning, the half-saiyan scooted over to Sharpener and whispered, "Who's that?"

Videl turned to the girl, but jumped a little in shock when she saw Gohan with Sharpener. "Oh, Gohan, I didn't realize you were there. This is Lana. She just started training at my father's dojo, and is in my elective and your gym class. Lana, this is Gohan. You'll see him at gym next period."

"Hi," Gohan smiled cheerfully at Lana, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Lana blushed slightly and nodded, "Likewise, Gohan."

"Aw! They'd look so cute together!" Erasa whispered excitedly to Sharpener.

"Sure, babe, anything you say," Sharpener replied in an effort to please his girlfriend. He grinned a bright, sleazy smile and leaned towards her a bit. He appeared to be trying to make himself taller. Maybe he was simply trying to make up for something.

Erasa cooed back, "Oh Sharpie, you're so sweet! Let's go to the mall later, I saw a cute necklace I want to get!" Her boyfriend put an arm around her and smirked as Erasa blabbered on about

Gohan twitched his thumbs together. He was desperate to eat as he had only managed to grab half of a meal that morning. Being late to school was not something Gohan wanted to risk, even for food. But now, the girl Lana was at the table. So far he had managed to keep his appetite down to the meal size of two adults instead of a multitude, but today he wasn't so sure he'd be able to stop eating once he started.

The loudest stomach growl yet erupted from Gohan's stomach. "What the hell was that?" Erasa shrieked, clutching to Sharpener's bicep.

"Oh, well, that was just my stomach…" Gohan mumbled.

Lana turned her head to look at the half-saiyan, amused, before things settled down under the roar of the students in the cafeteria. A knowing smile graced her face as Gohan sat the rest of the meal in silence, trying to meditate and ignore his hunger like Piccolo taught him so long ago.

The bell rang for the next period, so Gohan stood from the bench and offered to walk Lana to class, "Hey Lana, you're new right? Do you know how to get to gym?"

"Oh no Gohan, I can't let you do that," Videl interjected, "I'm her guide, I can take her there. Besides, the locker rooms are at opposite ends of the gym."

After Gohan conceded, they all went their separate ways. Erasa and Sharpener headed to basic math arm in arm, Videl and Lana headed to their locker room, and Gohan headed to his.

The half-saiyan yawned slightly as he entered the locker room, his thoughts occupied with the smile Lana had given him. She had seemed to know something about why he was so hungry. He looked around, and then realized his mistake. While contemplating what he thought of the new girl, he had accidentally wandered into an empty physics classroom. Luckily no one was inside, and the half-saiyan leapt for the door, catching it before it closed and locked him in. Gohan peeked at his watch, knowing his little detour had cost him some of passing period. Shocked, he bolted for the gym. His mind screamed. _I'm late!_

After changing into the PE uniform of baggy sweats and a tee, Gohan ran into the gym, giving a smile to his teacher without thinking about it. _I wonder why we have a sub. He has funny hair,_ was the first thought through Gohan's mind. The oblivious boy found a seat on the bleachers next to Sharpener gazing enraptured at the substitute, who was now addressing the class.

"Now, I'm sure that all of you are wondering why the World Champion is your substitute! Well, your worthless teacher is in the hospital due to an unfortunate accident! So from now on, the Champ will be your substitute until your teacher returns! Who's excited? Yeah!"

Loud cheers bounced around the room. All of the students were astonished and virtually speechless except for two young pupils. Those students were Gohan and Videl.

"Oh jeez," Videl groaned, "Why now?"

"W-what? Mr. Satan? Here? Gym? Now?" Gohan stuttered. How will I keep my strength a secret now?

"Yep, Nerd Boy, you better believe it!" Sharpener gloated, laughing, "Ha, be careful or you'll be squashed by all of us important guys! All of us at the Champ's dojo have been training for this day!"

"I kind of doubt I'm the one going to be squashed…" Gohan muttered darkly, infuriated by this entire day. He clutched his grumbling stomach and moaned softly, "Whoever did this to me needs to be put in their place."

"Okay class, as your warm-up today you will do three sets of 20 push-ups and 25 pull-ups, followed by 100 lunges. Once you've finished that, you will jog 25 laps around the gym. You'll finish your workout with 250 flutter kicks. For everyone who doesn't train with me, the Champ, you should because then you'd know how to do these! Flutter kicks are vital to any martial artist! Any questions?" Hercule bellowed at the class of adoring fans.

Almost immediately Gohan raised his hand. "Kid with the spiky hair," Hercule called.

"Is that all we're going to do?" Gohan asked, an innocent smile gracing his lips.

"Yes, that's all! This is only a third of my normal warm-up, as I'm the Champ! Oh yeah!" Hercules fans all cheered, except Gohan and Videl. Once the noise had quieted, the 'savior' asked again, "Any more questions?"

Gohan raised his hand again. "Kid with the spiky hair?" Hercule called again, "What is it this time?"

"Is it all right if I do your normal workout?" Gohan asked. _If I run his workout, I'll be able to see what he does normally, to see just how much I surpass him,_ Gohan speculated.

Without the half-saiyan realizing, the entire gym had suddenly gone quiet. Every face in the bleachers was turned towards Gohan. Some students looked shocked, others smug as they believed Gohan could never do it and they'd have more fodder for making fun of the nerdy kid. Sharpener stared at him in disbelief. "G-Gohan? Are you sure-" Sharpener's sentence was cut off by Gohan's nod. "Yep," he whispered back to the jock.

Hercule too was frozen in disbelief. After a second he recovered spectacularly, as always. Thumping his chest, he laughed, "You can certainly try! However, you should know that even my top students couldn't complete this workout without falling over! You should be honored you are given a chance to try my workout! Tell you what, if you can complete this workout, then I will personally invite you to my dojo for a month! How would you like that? All of you out there can try, but only the first one to finish will get the invitation! It's not like any of you will be able to complete such a tough workout! Woo!"

Once again, the entire class cheered in loving adoration of the 'Savior of the World'.

"Any more questions? No? All right then, begin your workouts!" Hercule yelled at his adoring fans.


End file.
